Family Day

Friday, January 27, 2006

Prison visit and hospice workshop

Visited Paul's meditation group at the archaically named Wakulla Correctional Institution. If you look at the web link you will see a picture of the entry where we spent 40 minutes waiting for clearance to enter. Well worth the wait though as we spent the morning with a delightful group of men, sharing practice and discussing the spiritual dimension of life. A very moving experience. I really felt for those we left behind as we drove out of the door - to imagine being confined to suc a small space for so many years.... Afternoon, we visit Big Bend Hospice where Paul also volunteers. Here we gave a workshop on Buddhist Psychology . Quite a challenge to give the basics in an hour and a half!

Death penalty - last minute hold on this weeks execution

On Wednesday we attended a press conference held to support the plea for clemency for the man due to be executed next week. Meanwhile, drama unfolding as the execution die to occur yesterday was held at the last minute on a human rights plea (the method of execution, it was argued, caused unnecessary pain) so there is a stay of execution for a short while at least. What crazy inhumanity. I stood in the small crowd that assembled to show solidarity at the press conference. Members of the condemned man's family were there - his daughters, ordinary young women, yet so strong and brave in their willingness to spea up for their Dad. The whole situation quite surreal - how can these people really be pleading with thier own country's authorities not to kill their father. What do they tell their kids. It cut me up when the older daughter described telling her son this might be the last time he saw his grandad. Judy has been working on this case all week- a tough job. She is moderately hopeful of getting clemency on this one.Read more about this case

Tuesday, January 24, 2006

India Volunteers in Tamil Nadu

So here I am in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. All new to me, never been in South India before. It's an utterly different world, As different to Delhi as London is to the Mediterranian. The heat slows everyone right down, and everyone smiles at you and is friendly. Genuinely friendly, not "I'm smiling at you 'cause I want you to buy my stuff" as happens regularly in the Big Smoke.

Radical Buddhism

Thursday, January 19, 2006

Snake 'befriends' snack hamster

Aochan, the snake 'seems to enjoy' being with Gohan, the hamster A rodent-eating snake and a hamster have developed an unusual bond at a zoo in the Japanese capital, Tokyo. Their relationship began in October last year, when zookeepers presented the hamster to the snake as a meal.

The rat snake, however, refused to eat the rodent. The two now share a cage, and the hamster sometimes falls asleep sitting on top of his natural foe.

Arrival in Tallahassee

Arrived in Talahassee last night. Amida arranged a beautiful sunset as we landed. Its a beautiful tree lined city. This is the view from Paul's window. This morning we visited Lotus Lake Buddhist Centre where we will be running events.This spider lives on Paul's window - a banana spider I am told - impressive. Great to spend time with Judy and Paul again. The Dogs, Bishop and Asta, are pleased to see us.

Last year's class in Delhi

News from volunteers

Got an email this morning from one of our Amida volunteers, Tam.What an extraordinary week! My learning curve has been pushed so hard and reached such new levels that it's no longer a curve but a bullet straight line reaching up several hundred metres onto the air. Okay, occasionally it has a few wobbles and wiggles, and even crumples up into a little heap on the floor and goes "I don't know what I'm doing, HELP!" But essentially it's keeping straight and true, and being added to every minute. I've even started to learn just a smidgen about the science of the English language. That's the toughest part for me (and for many of the other volunteers with no official teacher training/TEFL as we're from the generation that never had to learn "this is a noun, this is a pronoun, this is the past participial tense".) Fortunately I don't need to worry too much, since in grammar classes I play assistant to the more experienced teachers, and my strengths are more in guiding discussions in conversation classes, and bouncing about doing nursery rhymes with the little 'uns. Also I will be doing movement and song and drama and art stuff when I go down to Tamil Nadu on Wednesday, as those Tsunami orphans need learning through fun and relaxation and gentleness more than anything else by the sound of things Tam writes on the Amida volunteers blog site

Tuesday, January 17, 2006

Parrot squawks on woman's affair

African Greys are often considered the best speakers among parrots. A parrot owner was alerted to his girlfriend's infidelity when his talkative pet let the cat out of the bag by squawking "I love you Gary". Suzy Collins had been meeting ex-work colleague "Gary" for four months in the Leeds flat she shared with her partner Chris Taylor, according to reports.

Mr Taylor apparently became suspicious after Ziggy croaked "Hiya Gary" when Ms Collins answered her mobile phone. The parrot also made smooching sounds whenever the name Gary was said on TV.

Mr Taylor, 30, a computer programmer, confronted the woman he had lived with for a year who admitted the affair and moved out, several newspapers reported. He also gave up his eight-year-old African Grey parrot after the bird continued to call out Gary's name and refused to stop squawking the phrases in his ex-girlfriend's voice.

"I wasn't sorry to see the back of Suzy after what she did, but it really broke my heart to let Ziggy go," he said.

Women in Religion

A Church of England group has devised a compromise designed to allow the ordination of women bishops without causing a split in the Church.

A report suggests a group of male bishops - so called "flying bishops" - could work in parishes unwilling to accept the authority of a woman. BBC News

So frequent in religion, the struggle to change attitudes to women are thwarted or subverted by past protocols. Would a similar concession be made if parishes didn't like a black bishop? Surely it is for them to consider their prejudices... thankfully in the Amida Order we are not tied to outdated outrages.

Sunday, January 15, 2006

Shinran Memorial day

Shinran day. The aniversary of Shinran's death is tomorrow. Shinran Shonin (1173-1262) was born at the close of the Heian period, when political power was passing from the imperial court into the hands of warrior clans. It was during this era when the old order was crumbling, however, that Japanese Buddhism, which had been declining into formalism for several centuries, underwent intense renewal, giving birth to new paths to enlightenment and spreading to every level of society..... read more on Shinran by following this link

Meeting with Vancouver Amida group

One of the delights this visit has been to meet with friends from the Vancouver Amida group. Today we joined with some of them visiting The Buddhist Church of Vancouver where we very much enjoyed joining in the Jodoshinshu service and then having good conversation over a meal.